Fight
by PieceOfShit96
Summary: Otis and my nameless OC get into a terrible fight, resulting in their parting ways. Neither one of them can stay away for too long, though. What will bring them back together?
1. Chapter 1

She had been so happy to release the patient from the hospital that she just had. He was a college student who had gotten into a nasty car accident, and she had worked so hard to save him. He was going to get to go home. She tried not to be proud of her work, because she knew it could easily get her into trouble to think that way, but she was proud to have saved this kid.

She came home and bounded up the stairs, excited to tell Otis of her accomplishments.

She stopped dead when she heard the screaming. It sounded familiar. It definitely wasn't Otis, but it was familiar.

When she opened the door to their room, she saw why. The college student who she had just released from the hospital...

Otis and Baby had him tied to an old door they had found, and were throwing knives at him.

Fury rose in her gut and she grabbed Otis by the shoulder, spinning him around.

"Hey, mama-" Taking one look at her face, he knew something was wrong.

She shook with rage, tears brimming on her eyes. She hated that when she was angry, her body's first reaction was to cry. "H...how...how...could you..."

"W...what?"

"I just released him...he was going home to his family...he...he...I worked so hard to save him!" She slapped Otis across the face, hard enough for him to see stars. His first instinct was to grab her by the arms, but he immediately let her go after he did.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know?!"

"Maybe if you'd stop being such a fucking prick and killing people!" She shoved him back away from her, knowing how dangerous he could be when he was pissed. "Your daddy must've beat your head on the headboard too many times for you too think this is okay!" She cringed as soon as she said it. She knew it was a low blow. It seemed to take the thunder right out from under him, though, as he fell silent, simply swallowing heavily. "I know what you're trying to do, Otis. You're trying to get vengeance for crimes against you you'll never see enough blood flow for! If you would just...Who am I kidding, you'll never fuckin' change." She grabbed her suitcase and started to indiscriminately shove clothes into it.

"Hey, hey wait, where're you goin'?"

"Away from you! You...I should have fuckin' known I couldn't change you. You'll always be that sick fuckin' bastard, torturing people for fun just because it happened to you. How many times have I told you you can't kill enough people to make your parents sorry, Otis? You'll always be that fuckin' scared little boy tied down to a bed somewhere in Ala-fuckin'-bama waitin' for your parents to come in and fuck you and beat you. You'll be that as long as you keep doing this, because it's all you can think about, is hurting people because they hurt you."

Otis reeled for a moment. Her words cut so deep...He couldn't think of anything to say for a moment.

"What, you fuckin' know I'm right so you're just not gonna say anything?"

"Hey, fuck you! Just because you're all pissed off at me because I've got this guy that you just helped. I didn't fuckin' know! You were all fine with this until you realized who it was! You've never said anything before! Especially not when you killed those two guys in the parking lot, mama. Let's not forget about that!"

Baby stood, watching the argument, jaw slack with shock. She had abandoned her plaything for now, and was watching the fight unfold.

"Hey, fuck you!" She mocked him, snarling her lip like he always did. "That all you can say, Otis? Well guess what! Last night was the last time you ever did!" She stormed off.

"What?! Mama, wait!" He was hot on her heels as she slammed the door, making solid contact with his face. He stumbled backward; She was stronger than he was, and the impact of the door was enough to scramble him for a moment. "Shit!" He tore out of the room, down the stair and out of the house. She was pulling away in her car. "No! Wait!" He chased her down the road until he thought his lungs would explode, when he collapsed, gasping for air as tears ran down his face. He knew he had fucked up. He had just lost the best thing that had ever happened to him. The only chance he had ever had at happiness. She was gone.

He flopped in the dirt, too exhausted from the sprint, and too heartbroken to care as the rain started to pour down on him.

Rufus eventually came out and drug his sorry ass in the house, depositing him on his bed unceremoniously.

"Baby told me what happened...I...I'm real sorry, man..."

Otis just looked at him, pulling the blanket up over his shoulders. He was soaked, but he didn't care. Not like she would be there to scold him about it, anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

It had only been a day, but she missed Otis so much already.

When she awoke in her friend's bed, she was startled at first. No warm body next to hers, arms snaked around her middle. No head in the back of her neck, snuggling up to her so close. No leg wrapped around hers...She was alone...

She did regret what she had said to him. He was pissed, but she had dug deep with the cuts she had made. Baby had even looked astonished.

She couldn't go back, though. He had to know how pissed she was. Truthfully, she wasn't ready to look him in the eyes after what she had said to him. He knew she hated that side of him, but that was the final straw, killing someone she had worked so hard to save...It was negating her work right in front of her. That would have been equivalent to smashing one of his statues to pieces.

She still wanted to cry, though, no matter how mad at him she still was. She loved him so much...She missed that goofy smile of his when he said something he thought was funny, but usually made her groan. She missed his rough, calloused hands in hers. She missed how warm he always was, and how tender and sweet he was with only her. She missed the tickle of his scruff on her face when he kissed her. God, she missed kissing him.

It had only been a day...She would get over it.

 _Fuck, you fucking stupid piece of shit. Fucking freak. No one could ever love you. You should've known that. You're fucking stupid. STUPID! SO FUCKING STUPID!_

Otis sobbed, banging his head against the wall, nails dug into the back of his neck.

 _This is your fault. You're nothing but a fucking failure. You're a piece of shit. How could you have thought someone as perfect as her could ever love you? You're a freak. A fucking freak and that's all you are and all you'll ever be. You're useless. She's a doctor. What are you? A sideshow attraction, you albino piece of fucking shit. No one. NO ONE. Could ever love you._

Otis was still wet from the night before, but his face was soaked with tears. He had let her slip through his fingers. The best thing in his life. The most stable he had ever been. Gone.

 _You deserved every single thing your parents did to you. You deserve the beatings. You deserved starving like you did. You deserved getting raped over and over and over again. You deserved all the pain and misery. And you deserve it now._

Baby ventured into his room, sitting down beside him and stroking his shoulder. He flinched. "Hey, it's just me..."

"Go away..." He drew the blanket over his face.

"God, I've never seen you this miserable...You...You really, really loved her..."

He sobbed loudly, unable to hold it back. Tears brimmed on Baby's eyes. She hated to see her brother so broken like this...

"Otis...I'm so sorry...I...I'm so sorry she hurt you..."

"N...never again..."

"I know..." She knew what he meant. He would never open up to anyone like that ever again. All this time, he had been so scared of being hurt. Baby had convinced him to open up to her. His girl had always told him she would never hurt him. Well, here he was. Back at square one, where he had always been. "You're soaking...Why don't you get up and get a shower..."

"No. Don't want to."

"Otis..."

"Leave me alone..."

"What's that that just fell out of your pocket?"

"Don't-!" He grappled for the small black box that Baby had snagged before she opened it.

"O...Oh my god, Otis...Y...you were..."

"S...she always...asked me when I was going to ask her...I...I didn't think it made a difference...We were together, why do we need a piece of paper saying we are..."

"Otis..." Tears rolled down Baby's face. "I...I'm so sorry...I don't even...I don't even know what to say...Did...did you make this?"

"Yeah...you...you can have it...if you want it..."

"No...if...if she comes back, will you...?"

He sobbed openly again. "Of course I would. In a heart beat! She...She...I..."

"I know...You love her more than anything...She really loved you too, you know...She'll be back...I'm sure she will..."

The little black box had contained a ring Otis had handcrafted just for her, with a tiny black stone he had come across trading with the pawn shoppe dealer one time or another. She always hated diamonds. They were too plain for her. Not that he could afford a diamond, anyway.

Baby knew exactly how he had planned on proposing to her, that was the saddest part. He would take her to their lookout and when the sun was setting, he would get down on one knee and ask her. It would be awkward for hi, but she would have thought it was adorable. Hopefully, their song, In My Life by the Beatles would have been playing on the car radio.

She would have loved the ring. It was absolutely beautiful. The stone wasn't large, but it would have looked large on her tiny hands. He had engraved tiny leaves and flowers into the band of the ring, which was rose gold, her favorite. Baby had no idea how he had done it, but it was gorgeous.

Her heart ached for her brother, who was sobbing in his bed. He had given someone one last chance, and had opened up to them, and he had gotten burned. She knew it would be the last time, too. He was hurt too badly this time.


	3. Chapter 3

She heard the knock on the door as her friend, Mia, entered the guest room she had allowed her to stay in.

"Hey...How're you doing?" She asked, sympathy painted on her face.

"I'm...not okay..." She said frankly, rubbing her face. "I miss him already."

"You really think you're going to stay away from him?" She offered her mug of coffee. She remained silent. "You love him so much. And he loves you more than anything. I've seen it between you two. You really can't think that you'll honestly just throw all that away, can you?"

"I'm still pissed."

"Then stay away for a while. There's no harm in that. But don't sit there and act like it's completely over between you two, because you and I both damn well know it's not. You could never walk away from that. I know you."

"I just..."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I'm here if you wanna talk, but you don't have to rush. Stay here as long as you need to."

She could only nod. She knew her friend was right. There was no way she could throw away almost three years of that kind of love. She had never been with someone that loved her like that. And she had never been with someone that she loved like that. She knew they would end up back together...If he would take her back. She hoped he would. She missed that albino.

 _Fucking stupid piece of shit. You're worthless. You're useless. No one could ever love you. How could you believe someone would. Piece of shit. Freak. Fucking freak. Your mother was right. You're just a fucking freak. You're a fat, worthless ugly piece of shit. How could you think anyone could ever love you?!_

He had been in bed for days, unmoving. Baby had forced food down his throat, but he had just thrown it back up once she had left. His body was weak. He knew he had to keep some food down at some point, if he wanted to keep going. But, maybe he didn't want to keep going.

He touched his face where she had slapped him. It still stung. It was the last time she had touched him. He tried to push her words out of his head. He hated how right she had been.

 _Stupid, Stupid STUPID!_

He crashed his head into the wall.

Sometimes, when he went days without eating, the flashbacks came more easily. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was the pain in his stomach that reminded him of the neglect his parents forced him through. Maybe it was hallucinations.

 _Nothing but a fat, worthless piece of shit. Should've aborted you. Should've aborted you. Your daddy's gonna fuck you real good tonight. Stop crying, you piece of shit! I'll give you something to cry about!_

He flinched, the images in his head all too real. He curled into a ball, sobbing harder. She had helped him through so much of his inner turmoil. He had fought through it to love her better. What was the point of fighting now? Who cared?

 _No boy of mine is gonna have long hair, you faggot piece of shit!_

He felt the razor cut his scalp. Everything was too real.

 _Fuckin' stupid white hair anyway. You should have brown hair, like your daddy and me! But you're a freak!_

The razor drug across his head, purposefully cutting. He moaned.

 _Ooh, look. Your daddy's home. What game is he gonna play tonight? Find the rabbit hole?_

Otis sobbed, shaking. He knew what game it would be. He moaned as his father put his cigarette out on his skin, jerked his pants off and had his way with him.

Baby came in the room, shaking him. "Otis, calm down. You're not there anymore..."

Otis slowly came around, finding his reality once more. He wasn't sure which was more painful at this point.

"Here. Come here. You've gotta eat somethin'." Baby held him close, letting him lean against her so that he was propped up, and handed him a mug of tea. He drank from it.

"Not hungry..."

"Yeah, well, too bad." She held his nose, forcing him to open his mouth and shoved whatever food she had brought up to him into his mouth. He swallowed, glaring. "And I know you're gonna throw it up, so I'm stickin' around to make sure you don't. You wanna keep playin' this game or are you gonna eat it yourself?"

He sighed, taking the plate into his lap and slowly picking at the food.

"You remember when you first came here? I sat and held you like this all the time."

He nodded, not looking at her.

"You were so sick...We all thought you wouldn't make it. But you're so strong...You fought so hard."

Otis tried to ignore her, slowly eating. She wasn't lying. She stayed all night to make sure he didn't retch, as she did the day after that. She knew him too well.

She tried to go through the motions at the hospital. Caring for patients, smiling and acting like she was okay. But she wasn't. God she wasn't. Whenever she was alone all she could think about was him. All she could think about were the harsh words she had said. God, she had even hit him...Would he be scared of her now?

She wished so badly every second of every day she would see him standing there with a bouquet of flowers, like he had one other time before. But he never came. A week passed. He never came. She wondered what he was going through. Probably some indescribable hell. She knew he had opened up to her on a heavy chance of his own. He didn't do that for people. He was always closed off, and she had shoved it right back in his face.

 _Fuckin' stupid piece of shit! Just fucking take it like a man! Stop cryin!_

Otis spend more and more time in hallucinations. Baby noticed that even when he wasn't, and he was lucid, he had reverted back to the way he was when he first came home: Scared, skittish and always flinching at every move.

He looked so haggard and worn. Baby wondered if he had slept at all. He hadn't been out of his bed for longer than an instant- to throw up or piss- in days.

"Hey, Otis...Why don't you get up and come downstairs?" She shoved him upright and forced him to stand. He numbly walked to the bathroom, turning on the shower water.

His eyes fell to the straight razor he used to shave. If he slit his throat with it, he would only last minutes until he drowned in his own blood.

 _No. You deserve to suffer, you fucking animal._

He showered and got dressed, following Baby down the stairs.

The whole family tried to cheer him up, to no avail. They knew it wouldn't work, but it didn't hurt to try.


	4. Chapter 4

She couldn't stop herself from staring at the photo of him she kept in her wallet. Missing him was unbearable, but she was still so angry at him.

"Why don't you go see him?" Mia asked.

"What if he doesn't want to see me?"

"Well, then at least you would know."

"I...O...okay...After work today..."

"Sounds like a plan. You want me to go with you?"

"No...I need to do this on my own."

 _Piece of shit. Fuckin' piece of shit. You're worthless._

He retched into the toilet, his whole body shaking. He hated himself. He hated himself more than anything he had ever held spite for.

 _She knows. She knows everything about you. You spilled your guts to her time and time again. You told her all of your secrets. The deepest ones that only you and she know, now. You should've known she would run away. You're too fucked up to love. You're too much of a mess. Look at you now. JUST LOOK AT YOU._

He heaved again, coughing. He heard footsteps outside the bathroom door and hurriedly cleaned himself up. Was that her?

"Otis...Why don't you go see her?" It was Baby.

"I...I...I don't know where she is..."

"You know where she works."

"Yeah, but not when...A...And what if she calls security on me?"

"She wouldn't do that...Come on. I'll go with you. I'll drive. You're too shaken up."

They drove to the hospital, finding Mia in the parking lot.

"Otis! Oh god...You look like hell..."

"D...do you know when she works?"

"Well...it might not be the best idea to show up here, but she's been staying at my place...Do you remember where that is?" She chose her words carefully. Otis looked so much more skittish than she remembered.

He nodded.

"Okay. Just show up any time, alright? You're always welcome."

"O...okay..." He and Baby started the ride back home. "Baby, pull over."

"What?"

"Pull over. Pull over. I'm gonna be sick. Pull over!"

Baby pulled to the side of the road in just enough time for Otis to throw the car door open and vomit. "Otis..."

"I'm fine...Keep going..." He slammed the door and rolled the window down, trying to enjoy the breeze.

They set out later, driving to Mia's house. Otis was anxious, fidgeting the whole way, and having Baby pull over multiple times. When they finally reached her house, he didn't see her car in the driveway.

"Otis...She just started the drive to your house...You just missed her."

"O...Oh...Wait...she was coming to see me?"

"Yeah..."

He had missed her. Dammit, he had missed her.

Dammit, she missed him. She had just missed him.

They both started driving back to their respective destinations, praying the other would still be there. Both were wrong.

When Otis walked in the door and saw she had just left, he started sobbing, collapsing on the ground.

When she saw that she had just missed him, she started sobbing, collapsing in her bed and clinging to her pillow.

The next day, she took off, speeding down the road to the Firefly farm. She made it there before anyone had woken up, and snuck in to Otis's room.

There he lay on the bed, curled up, shaking. "Otis?"

He jolted upright at the sound of her voice. She had to hold back a cringe at his appearance. He definitely hadn't been taking care of himself. He hadn't shaven, and he looked like a wolf man, quite frankly, with his sideburns one length and the rest of his facial hair another. He was gaunt and had lost what she estimated to be about 20 pounds. She knew he hadn't slept by the dark circles under his eyes.

"B...Baby...what've you been doing to yourself?" She took his hands in hers. His knuckles were all cracked open and bloody.

"W...w...why are you here...?"

"I came to see you...I...I want to talk to you..." She reached out to stroke his face. He flinched back hard. He had never flinched like that with her. Ever.

"P...please!" He shook.

"Baby, no...Otis what the hell happened to you..." She pulled him into her arms, vibrating as he trembled.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm such a piece of shit. I'm sorry I fucked up...I'm sorry, please...please come back...please come back...I...I miss you...I need you."

"That's...that's what I want to talk about, Baby..."

He sobbed. She had never seen him cry like this...She felt horrible. "Please don't say you won't...please...please don't leave me again...Please...I'm begging you...I'm fucking begging you don't leave me."

"Otis...Otis calm down. Listen to me." She shoved him away from her so he would look her in the eyes. She felt a pang in her chest as she looked at his face. His eyes filled with tears and his lip was trembling. "I'm...I'm not going to leave you...I still want to be with you. But you have to know how angry I was."

"I...I know...I...I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry..."

"Shhhh...I know...I'm sorry, too. I said some horrible things to you."

"B...but you were right..."

"Huh?"

"You were right...i...it was all true..."

She sighed. "I...and I'm so sorry I hit you...I won't ever do that again...I...I know it's going to take a while to earn your trust back...But...I still want to be with you."

"I want you back. I want you back so bad...I need you, mama."

"What?" She had never thought she would hear those words from him. True, he had said them moments before, but she thought it was just out of desperation.

"I need you...I need you, mama...I love you..."

"I need you too, Otis. My life wouldn't be the same without you. I don't ever want to know what it's like without you again."

He wiped his face, sniffling. "C...can I..."

"Can you what? Kiss me? Of course, you silly man." She smiled as he crashed his lips into hers, fisting the hair at the back of her head, desperate for her.

When he broke, he rested his forehead against hers. "I love you...I love you..."

She kissed him lightly. "I love you too, sweetheart."


	5. Chapter 5

Though she wouldn't leave him, she felt it best to stay at her friends for a while yet, to let Otis come down from whatever hell he was putting himself through.

But dammit, she couldn't resist him.

When he had his hands fisted in her hair like that and was kissing her like that, it was hard not to push him against the bed, kissing down his neck and to his shoulder, suckling on the pale flesh. God, two weeks had been too long to go without him. She heard him moan and his breathing hitch.

She loved him. Thank god, she still loved him. He didn't even fight back when she pinned his hands above his head and kissed down his chest.

He wrenched his hands free when she wasn't expecting him to. He needed to touch her, to know for sure that she was there. She gasped as his calloused hands stroked her body up and down. She had missed that so much. Had missed his touches and sweet caresses.

"I love you..." He whispered, kissing down her chest. She wasn't sure when he ended up on top of her.

"Show me..." She murmured, nibbling on his ear.

They made love for what seemed like hours. Time seemed to stop for both of them. It was sweet and loving and caring like it never had been before.

Afterward, he lay beside her, holding her close, like she had longed for.

"I love you..." He muttered, pulling her closer, if that was even possible.

"I love you too, baby."

"Please...please don't leave..."

"I told you, sweetie. I'm not leaving you...You just have to understand why I was so pissed, and why that upsets me so much. We work at opposite ends of the spectrum..."

"N...No...I get all that. I just...Don't leave...Stay tonight...Stay forever..."

"Otis...I think a few days for you to mellow out will be good for you."

"No. I want you. I want you back here. In my arms like you always are. Please..."

"No, Otis. Trust me on this, okay?" She sat up, stretching.

"But-" She cut him off, kissing him sensually. "Mm...God, please don't go..."

"I'm going to stay a little longer, but I'm going to leave, then."

"What? No! You said you wouldn't leave me!" He sat up, grabbing her arm desperately.

"Hey..." She reached out to touch his face, and he recoiled sharply. God, what had she put him through...? She felt awful. "Shhh...I'm not leaving you, I'm just leaving for the day. I have to go to work. But I'm going to sleep at Mia's tonight."

"Can I come?"

She sighed. "No, Otis. I told you. I think it's best for just a few more days. You need to get yourself right in your head, baby..."

"P...Please don't make me do it alone."

Her heart ached. "I need to get myself sorted out too, Otis..." God, she had broken him. She felt like the biggest piece of shit. He was so strong and willful, so independent and virile...and she had done this to him. She had broken him into a thousand pieces. "You just need to relax, baby...Calm down. I promise, I'm not leaving you-"

"You promised that before."

She flinched. when she looked over at him, his head was down, picking his nails or the skin around them. She had broken his trust, too, apparently. How long would it take her to get it back? "I...I didn't leave you...I never left. We never broke up, Otis..."

"Can I ask you something?" He still didn't look at her.

"Of course, baby. Anything."

"Why do you care about me?"

"W...what? Baby..."

"If you hate what I do so much...Why do you care about me? Why do you love me?"

"Otis...You're not a killer...You kill people. But that's not who you are with me. I see the side of you that no one else gets to. You're so sweet and loving, and you have such a beautiful soul that I'm so fortunate I get to see. I love you. Every part of you. I hate that you do that, yes...But I know I can't change you, so I have to accept that part of you, because it comes right along with the person I love so much. I care about you because you are the person that I see every day. The sweet, loving Otis. The Otis that thinks about the little things and does them just to please me. The Otis that loves me so much for who I am, no matter what. I love you because of who you are, and if what I hate so much comes along with it, I have to accept it. But you have to understand that it really, really upsets me."

"Yeah. You mentioned that. About not being able to change me."

"That's what you got out of that?"

"No. I heard you...Thank you..."

She raised her hand to touch him too quickly, and he flinched backward. "Baby...I thought we got over this flinching a long time ago...It used to be just your face...but...but now it's every time I touch you..."

"I'm fine..."

"Otis...No you're not. Come on. You can talk to me. You know that. Come on...You've gotta tell me so we can talk about things."

He sighed, curling up into a ball, wrapping his arms around his legs. "I...The...the nightmares have gotten really bad...Th...they're not just nightmares, anymore..."

"Baby..."

"Nn...No...I don't want to talk anymore. I...I told you everything and you used it against me..." He sobbed.

Tears rolled down her face. She knew she had hurt him, she knew she had damaged his trust. But she had had no idea it was this bad. "Otis...I'm so sorry...I'm so, so sorry...I didn't mean...I...I'm so sorry I said what I did. It was awful and I never should have said it...I want you to tell me things...I...I'm so sorry I threw it back in your face...I never wanted to hurt you like that...I was angry and I said awful things...I'm sorry."

She worried she would have to start all over with him, or if he would ever trust her again.

"I never thought you would do that to me..."

"Otis, I know I hurt you. I know. But...I...I never, ever meant to say something that hurtful. You have to believe me. I would never do something like that to you intentionally. I'm so...so sorry..."

He rested his head on her shoulder. "O...Okay...Okay..." He wanted to believe her. He really did. But it would take him a while to trust her like that again. Admittedly, it would probably only take him a few days; almost three years is a long time to get to know someone, and he knew she really wouldn't intentionally ever do that to him unless she was as mad as she had been. But the pain was still fresh, and he still somewhat resented her for what she had said, and the fact that she was staying at Mia's instead of in his arms. He couldn't stand one more night without her, but he supposed he had to.


	6. Chapter 6

She stayed until she had to leave for work, leaving him while he was asleep. She left him a note, saying that she had left for work and that she would see him the next day.

When he awoke and found the note, he felt slightly relieved that she had put forth the effort to write it.

Baby came up to see him, just to check and see how he was doing. "How was that?"

He just nodded.

"You guys still together?"

"Yeah...we didn't break up...I guess? I...I thought..." She shook his head. "I don't know. I don't care. We're still together...I...I just..."

"You don't have to explain to me...I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You...You know she still loves you very much, right?"

He nodded.

"Okay. And we all love you too, Otis. You know that, right?"

He nodded. She exited and went downstairs.

She was crying at the bottom of the staircase, her face buried in her hands.

"Hey..." Baby sat next to her on the stairs.

"I broke his trust...He...He trusted me so much. He trusted me with everything...And...And I threw it back in his face just like everyone else...I feel so awful...I...I just...Feel so fucking awful..."

"He'll be okay...He's just a little hurt still..."

"I hope so, Baby...I hope so..."

"He will be."

Going to work, she had to pull herself together. She hated herself so much for what she had done to him.

The next day, she worked a double shift, so she didn't have the opportunity to see him in the morning before she left. Around lunch time, she saw someone approach her in her peripheral vision and stand in front of her.

"Listen, I said I'd get to them in a minute."

"I...It's me."

Her head jolted upright. Otis stood in front of her, wearing her favorite outfit on him: His simple black t-shirt and his best pair of jeans, with only one hole at his knee, his boots under the jeans instead of tucked in. He had cleaned himself up, trimming the facial hair around his sideburns rather than shaving. She knew it was in an effort to please her, but she found it charming. He still looked like hell, but he looked more like himself.

"Baby!" She jumped up from her chair and ran around the check-in desk she was sitting at, throwing herself into his arms.

"...Missed you this morning..."

"I know, babe. I'm sorry. I worked a double today..."

"Yeah...I figured..."

"Hey, I'll meet you in my office. I've got to check on a patient and then I'll be in. Do you remember where it is?"

He nodded and watched her walk away from him, then walking to her office.

When she walked into her office, he was leaning against her desk, watching the door. He looked so sexy standing there, she wondered how she had gone this long without him.

"I'm so glad to see you..." She rested a hand on his chest and kissed him sweetly, but passionately. She felt him rest his hands in the small of her back. She gently placed a hand on his cheek, moving with him as he flinched. "Relax, Otis...It's just me..."

"I know...I just...You have to give me a little time, too, on that."

She rested her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him. He kissed her head, then stroked her hair, one hand still in the small of her back. "I love you..."

"I love you too...Hey ah...You hungry?"

"I always am, why?"

He reached behind him and produced a box. She recognized it from a fast food chain. "I ah...Got you lunch from that place you like..."

"Ohh, baby! That's so sweet of you!" She noticed another one sitting on her desk. "Are you going to eat with me?"

"Er...I was going to, but you can just have it later...I'm...not hungry."

"Otis..." She knew he had relapsed, and that it was a bad one, considering he looked like he had lost as much weight as he had. "Come on...Please eat with me. It would make me really happy." She felt a pang of regret for manipulating him by saying it would make her happy, but she needed to get him to eat.

"O...okay..." He slowly ate with her as she chattered about her day, just trying to fill the silence.

"Baby...I love you more than anything. You know that, right?"

"I...Y...Yeah..."

"You don't sound very sure of that..."

"I just...Still feel like such a piece of shit...I mean...I...I know why you were mad at me. I understand. That's...that's like you putting a fist through one of my canvases or smashing a sculpture...Just...I wonder if what you said is really how you feel about me."

"Otis. I promise you. From the very bottom of my heart that it's not. I was just so mad that I said things I really didn't mean. I need you to understand that. I didn't mean those horrible things I said...I'm so sorry I did. I don't really think any of that...I just.I was just...in the heat of the moment..."

He nodded, chewing on the burger he had gotten.

"You gonna tell me why you're flinchin' with me now?"

He shook his head. "Not right now..."

"Okay...I won't push." She paused for a moment. "You know...I really am really, really glad to see you today. I didn't think I would get to, because I know I would get back to Mia's and crash. It's really sweet of you to bring lunch to me."

"God, when are you going to come home?"

"Soon, baby..."

She noticed a shift in his behavior. He stopped eating and leaned back in his chair. He looked like he was about to be sick.

"You okay, baby?"

"Yeah...I'm good."

She rested her hand on his knee. "We're gonna be okay...I'm coming back. You're getting better. We're gonna be okay. Alright?"

He nodded. Once her lunch break was over, he returned to his car and drove home, retching 3 or 4 times along the highway. He couldn't take this much longer. He had himself so worked up constantly that whether or not he was actually purging, he was sick enough in his stomach that he couldn't keep food down anyway.

She had hated seeing him that miserable. She was still upset with him, but she was starting to sort out her own emotions more effectively. She didn't know how long it would take her, but she needed to sort them out before she went back to the Firefly house.


	7. Chapter 7

Baby heard his boots hit the hardwood floor as soon as he got home. God, she was worried about her brother.

"Hey!" She lurched at him to give him a hug, but he abruptly took a step back, turning his body defensively. "Sorry, sorry. How was your visit?"

"It...er...it was fine..."

"Just fine?"

He rubbed his face. "She's still not coming home tonight..."

"She will. Just give her some time."

"Yeah, well what about what I need in this?" He snapped.

"You need to stop getting yourself so worked up. Why'd it take you so long to get home? Her lunch break ends at 12:30. It took you 40 minutes to get back after that." Otis fell silent. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You ate lunch, but you couldn't keep it down." She sighed. "She's coming back to you, Otis. She loves you. You know that, or she wouldn't be trying."

"I'm fucking trying. I'm trying so hard and I'm not getting anywhere."

"Huh. A little taste of your own medicine, huh Otis?"

"What?"

"How you shut everyone out, even if they try and try? How long it took her to just crack a fuckin' smile out of you at first?"

"Fuck you!"

"That's what you always say when you know someone is right."

"Goddamn you, Baby, I don't need this right now! I don't need a fucking lecture from you!"

Baby smirked. "At least you're fighting back again. I was so worried, seein' you so rolled over all the sudden with everything. Good to see you're comin' back, Otis." She swatted his ass as she walked away, hearing his breathing hitch. She looked back in time just to see him shudder. "You alright?"

"Fuck..." he muttered, backing up against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. He shuddered once more, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Otis?" She approached him carefully, reaching to touch him. He flinched. "Hey...Snap out of it..."

"I'm fine..."

Baby hesitated. "...They're not just nightmares right now, are they?..."

Otis swallowed heavily, looking at her. His eyes were so sad and broken. She hadn't seen that in him in a long time. "I'll leave you alone, okay?..."

He just nodded and retreated to his room.

When she was done with her shift, she drove to the Firefly house. It was relatively late, around midnight, but she knew Baby would at least still be up. She had the day off the next day, and it didn't matter how late she stayed out.

Baby turned when she heard her footsteps into the house. "Hey! What're you doin' here?"

"I just...came to check on him, I guess..."

"He's havin' a real tough time of it, sweetie...I don't think he quite realizes yet that you'll be back. He still just fuckin' hurts. All he knows is that it hurts that you're not here..."

"I kind of figured that, too...Where is he?"

"In your room, but I doubt he's asleep."

"What? It's midnight. He's never up."

"You know how he's flinching?"

"Yeah?"

"It's not just nightmares anymore. They're like...full on flashbacks or hallucinations or somethin'. I don't know if it's because he hasn't been eating and his body's just had enough of it, or if he's mentally really that bad right now, but it's bad."

"What? He ate today..."

"Yeah, right. You think he kept that down? It took him 40 minutes to get home from seeing you."

"Dammit, Otis..." She climbed the stairs, quietly opening their bedroom door in case he was sleeping. She really wanted to surprise him.

He was sleeping, but she knew it wasn't a heavy sleep. His breathing hadn't slowed enough for it to be.

"Otis..." She shook him lightly. "Otis, wake up, baby..."

He groaned, not turning over to her.

She giggled. "Come on, sleepy." She kissed his cheek, wrapping her arms awkwardly around him. He jolted awake, flailing against her. "Shhh...Otis...It's me..."

"Holy shit! Baby!" He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her roughly to the bed and squeezing her, kissing her indiscriminately. She giggled, squirming.

"That tickles, Otis!" She drew back away from him to look at his face. He was smiling. Genuinely smiling for the first time since their fight. He pulled her against him, hand on the back of her head and nuzzling into her neck. "Baby..."

"I love you..."

"I love you too."

"Are you going to stay here tonight?"

She sighed, hesitating. One night wouldn't hurt...They could start to work things out tomorrow, then. "Yeah...Just tonight. I don't have to work tomorrow."

He peppered her with kisses again, and she had to pull away so she could breathe. He was smiling that big goofy grin of his she loved so much. It hadn't hit her how much she had missed him until now.

"Otis...I love you so much..." She reached up to stroke his face, stopping when he flinched. "...Baby told me why you're flinching..."

His smile faded. "What...?"

"Baby...You...You can't keep doing this to yourself...I need to have an Otis to come back to..." She felt him bristle. He was fighting against saying something. "Go ahead, Otis...Say it."

"No. I don't want to fight anymore."

"Otis, we need to talk about this. Come on. Say it. Tell me what you're thinking."

"You may need an Otis to come back to, but this is fucking destroying me..."

"Baby...You do know I'm coming back, right?"

"See, that's the thing. I...I don't believe that you are."

"Babe...I promise I am-"

"Yeah, but you promised you'd never leave me and never hurt me, too. You promised you'd never use the secrets I told you against me." He sighed, rubbing his face. "Fuck, though...I trusted Cutter after the shit he did to me...I'm not exactly good with learning my lesson."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Baby...Please, please listen to me." She sobbed. "I am coming back. I...I'm so, so sorry I did that to you. I never meant to hurt you like I did. I was just angry. I love you more than anything. I could never be entirely separated from you. I...I know this is destroying you...I...It's killing me, too...but I don't want to hurt each other more before we've gotten ourselves straightened out..."

"Why do you think being separate is better? I...I...I'm struggling so much because I've become so dependent on you, because I love you so much. D...do you understand how risky that is for me? I've always been hurt. Always. But I trusted you and you just fucking left after the shit hit the fan. You couldn't wait to get away from me."

Tears poured down her face as she sobbed. "No...No! That's not what I meant by leaving! I...I...I love you...Please, please trust me again...Please...You've trusted me almost three years...I'll earn it back, I promise. I promise I'll make it up to you..." She clung to his chest, sobbing. She felt him stroking her hair, and she looked up at him. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I never meant to hurt you like I did. Please...Please don't think I'm like Cutter. Please don't think I'm like everyone else. I'm not! I...I just...I just got mad...And I said awful hurtful things and did awful hurtful things..."

"Shhh...We'll be okay, remember?" He kissed her, letting his hands fall to her waist.

"I love you..."

"I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

Otis still couldn't sleep that night, even while she lay next to him. She slumbered soundly in his arms as his mind reeled.

 _She still loves you. She's sorry she said those things...Why can't you just move the fuck on?_

 _Because you know she's right. That's the reason you kill, is to get revenge on your parents for what they did to you. You like feeling the power they had over you. She's right. You're nothing but that scared little boy, quaking under his father's touches. You're worthless. Always have been. Always will be. She can shine you up like gold all she wants, you're still nothing but shit._

She snuggled deeper into his chest in her sleep, a sweet smile on her face. God, he loved that little angel. No matter what she had done or said, he loved her. He craned his neck to kiss her head.

 _You're a piece of shit. Maybe if you weren't such a fucking freak, you could have made something of yourself. What are you, anyway? A fucking piss poor redneck who scrapes money together for your little arts and crafts for some shit show museum down the road. Fucking come on. Fucking freak._

 _You're nothin' but a fuckin' freak! I shoulda had you aborted! Fuckin' piece of shit!_

His mother's blows fell hard on him.

 _You'll never be anything! No one can ever love you! Look at you! You think anyone can love a face like that?!_

She kicked him in the stomach, following up with a kick to the face. He groaned.

 _Maybe if I fuck your face up enough, you won't be able to see how ugly you are! What do you think, demon? Huh? I'm gonna call you Lucifer, you fucking devil child!_

She kicked him repeatedly in the face, knocking the teeth out where her foot fell particularly hard.

"Baby? Hey...are you alright?" Looking at his eyes, she knew he was a thousand miles away, in a different time. He shook violently, guarding his face. She shook him gently; he recoiled from her touch hard enough to throw himself on the floor, knocking the air out of his lungs. He cried out in pain.

"P...please...please stop!"

"Otis, snap out of it!" She was terrified. He wasn't asleep. He wasn't anywhere near asleep. He was just hallucinating. No drugs, no alcohol. It was just him battling with the memories. "Baby!"

"S...stop yelling at me, mama! Stop fuckin' yellin' at me!" He was back. And he was scared of her, now.

"Otis...Jesus Christ you're scarin' the shit out of me..." She looked at him, shaking on the floor of their bedroom. She knew it was probably his body shutting down in response to not eating for so long. "Come here..." She crawled on the floor beside him, taking him into her arms.

"Nng!" He curled up, trying to defend himself.

"Shhh..." She soothed.

God...this was fucking humiliating to him...Being like this...So weak and powerless. He hated himself. He fucking hated himself.

The next day, the spent the day together. She tried to force him to eat, to no avail, only pissing him off.

"Baby...Why are...why are your memories so bad lately?"

He hesitated. He decided that he had to start trusting her again, if he was ever going to fully trust her. This would be a fine place to start. "I...I...Stopped fighting them..."

"What do you mean?"

"Y...you know when something reminds you of something else? Well...I...I stopped...fighting the bad memories, a..and...I don't know...Sometimes when I don't eat or don't sleep I get..." He sighed. "I start hallucinating, okay? And...It's just...All that comes back..."

She stroked his back. "Go ahead..."

"That's it."

"So why are you flinching now, every time I touch you?"

"B...Because it...I feel like I did when I first came here...I...I feel like I'm back at square one..."

"Think that's because of what you're doing to your body?"

"...Yeah..."

She kissed him, still stroking his back. "Think maybe now that you know for sure I'm coming back you'll calm down a bit?"

"...Maybe..."

God, she hoped so.

At dinner that night, she didn't even expect him to come down, but he did, sitting next to her and trying to force food down his throat.

 _His father forced him onto his knees, his hands tied behind his back. He unzipped his pants, laughing maniacally._

 _"Come on, fuck face. Open wide." He cocked the gun he had in his hand, threatening the quaking little boy. He did as he was told, choking as his father shoved himself into his mouth._

Otis swallowed heavily, setting his utensils down beside his plate.

"Baby? You okay?"

Otis nodded, face going whiter. He waved her off, begging her not to pay attention to his reaction.

When dinner was finished, he retreated to their room. She sighed, knowing what he was doing. "Has he ever been this bad?" She asked Mother Firefly.

"Oh, sweetie. It's been so much worse than this. Don't be so hard on yourself. Neither one of you are innocent, but neither one of you is to blame, either." She smiled. "I just wish he wasn't as hard on himself as he is."

"Me too..." She heard him thundering back down the stairs, sitting on the couch next to Grampa Hugo, watching TV.

His head spun. He wasn't feeling well at all.

"You okay, boy?" Grampa Hugo pat Otis's knee.

Otis nodded, trying not to betray how his head was slowly sinking away from him.

 _You're a piece of shit! You're not gonna worth anything your whole life! Fuckin' worthless piece of shit! Cry, cry you worthless faggot! Cry! Go ahead!_

 _Blows fell and fell. They hit him so hard he didn't even know where they were coming from._

Grampa Hugo stared at Otis as he shook, curling in on himself, muttering. "Aaaah...Eve? I...think we have a problem in here."

Eve and Otis's girl rushed into the room. "Shit..." She leaned down in front of him. "Hey...Hey you're alright. Come on..."

"What the fuck is happening?" Hugo stared in disbelief.

She pulled Otis into her arms, cradling his head against her chest. He screamed and tried to throw her off. "NO! NO MORE! NO!"

"Shhhh, Otis...Shhh...It's me. It's me..."

"NO!" He sobbed, shaking against her. "NO! PLEASE JUST HIT ME I'D RATHER YOU JUST HIT ME!"

"What is he talking about?"

"Please...please don't touch me like that...God, please..."

She desperately wanted him to snap out of it. She knew he would be mortified if he gave away what happened to him to the entire family. Of all his family members, only she and Baby knew all of what had happened to him. Mother Firefly knew most, but Rufus, Tiny and Grampa Hugo just knew that he was abused.

"Otis!" She shook him, hard. She saw his eyes come back to reality.

Looking around, his face started to turn red. All of them were standing around him, various levels of concern etched on their faces.

"Babe..." She stroked his face. He was too distracted to flinch. He pushed her off abruptly, standing and starting away. He wasn't sure how he ended up on the floor, but there he was, picking himself up. "Otis!" She rushed to him. "Otis, you can't keep doing this..."

God, he just wanted to melt into the floor. He was so fucking embarrassed. He didn't remember what he said, but by the way his family was looking at him, he was sure he had spilled more than he had wanted to. He trembled out of pure rage and shame. He didn't know what to do at that point, so he just hid his face.


	9. Chapter 9

Once R.J. had scraped Otis off the floor and carried him to their bedroom, she sat down in front of him on the bed.

"Otis...You can't. Keep doing this..."

"E...everyone knows..."

"Babe..."

He rubbed his face. "Oh my god..."

"Hey...They don't know everything. They don't know everything, baby. They don't know about the rape...They just know you were abused. It's okay." She wrapped her arms around him.

"Goddammit...Goddammit..." He shook. He didn't know what else to do. He was so embarrassed. So embarrassed that he had shown how broken he really was to his entire family. He had always held out being so strong for so long. His whole life was falling apart right in front of him. She had

"Babe...It's okay. Hey..." She tipped his chin to look at her. "It's okay..."

"H...help me...Help me get through this...Help me get over this..."

"Okay...I can, baby...I gotcha...What can I do..."

"I...I...I don't know..."

"Do you want to see someone?"

"What?"

"See a doctor...A doctor who specializes in-"

"NO. God, no...I..."

"Okay. Okay. That makes sense...You don't like people knowing."

"No...I don't...I don't know...what you can do..."

"I'll just be there for you, then. Okay?"

He nodded. Admittedly, he hadn't been trying to get better before. But the risk of everyone knowing was enough to turn him around.

She went downstairs and heat up a plate of food for him, bringing it back to the room.

"Oh, come on..."

"No, you come on. Do this for me. You look fucking awful, Otis."

"Thanks. That really helps." He deadpanned.

"No. You know what I meant, Otis. You've lost weight. Too much in too short of a time. It's not healthy, and you know it. You're certainly not stupid. You've got to help yourself before I can help you." She shoved the plate into his lap.

He ate slowly, picking at the food.

When he was done, she took the plate from him and kissed him. "I'm so proud of you."

"Huh?"

"I'm so proud of you. You asked me for help. You're trying. You're trying to hold yourself together through this whole thing. I'm proud of you." She kissed him. God, there she was. There was his girl. So sweet and caring to him...Even though he was a monster. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'm going to go soon, babe. I have to go to work tomorrow morning..."

He swallowed heavily.

"Do I have to worry about you...?"

"Ah...N...No...I...I think I'll be okay..."

"Baby...can we just cuddle until I have to go? I miss your arms around me..."

He chuckled. "Yeah. Come here."

"Take your shirt off?"

"Okay, Okay." He pulled his shirt over his head, then wrapping his arms around her and pulling her as close as he could. She planted a kiss on his chest and settled in the crook of his neck, nuzzling him. She rested a hand on his chest. He relished in the feeling of her warm hand against his flesh.

"I love you"

"I love you too. You just said that."

"I'm just making sure you know..." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

She left in good spirits that night. He seemed alright, and she didn't think he would purge again. But that was up to him.

The next afternoon, as soon as she got off work, she went to the Firefly house. Baby was waiting for her in the living room once she saw her in the driveway.

"Hey...How is he?"

"Actually, better. He didn't throw up last night."

"Good. Is he here?"

"Yeah, up in his room."

She bounded up the stairs, finding him curled up in his bed. "Baby? You're sleeping?" It was around 5 in the afternoon. She shook him awake.

"Hnn? Hey!" His eyes lit up when he saw her, grabbing her and pulling her into bed with him. She squealed in delight, giggling as he kissed her. "What're you doin' sleepin' baby?"

"I was just sketching and fell asleep, I guess. What time is it?"

"It's after 5. I just wanted to stop and see you, because I love you!" She kissed his cheek. "Do you wanna go out to eat somewhere?"

"Ahhh...Sure...?"

"Ok. Let's go to that diner down the road!"

"Alright." He drove, hand on her knee like it always was, stroking circles into the skin with his thumb.

"I love you, baby."

"Hn? Love you too."

"Can I tell you something?"

He did a double take. "Huh? Of course you can."

"You look so damn good I want to take you right here, right now. To hell if the car even crashes." She bit her lip, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Ahhh...You...You want me to find a place?"

"Mm..." She reached across the console, stroking him through his jeans and nibbling on his ear, licking his neck. "Maybe."

He swerved, slamming on the breaks then the gas. "F...fuck, mama...I...I can't...don't do that w...when I'm driving..."

"Then stop driving." She nipped at his throat.

"Y...You're gonna make me wreck..." He pulled the car over, slamming on the breaks and turning off the vehicle. She was on him as soon as he turned the key in the ignition, kissing him and shoving her hand up his shirt to touch his chest.

She moved down to kiss his neck, continuing to stroke him through the fabric of his pants.

He pressed his head to the seat, moaning and panting. "G...god..."

"Come on. Tell me what you want me to do." She unzipped his jeans.

"Fuck me...Fuck me any way you want, suck my dick, I don't care just-Nn..."

"Put your seat back and raise the steering wheel the whole way."

He did, fumbling with his seat and almost breaking the steering wheel out of the column. She climbed into his lap, pulling her pants off as she went.

They made love by the side of the road, squeezed tightly against one another. When they had finished, she held his head close to hers and kissed him over. and over. Slowly, sweetly, passionately.

She smirked after a while, pulling away from him. "Now that I've worked up an appetite, drive, babe." She rolled back into the passenger seat and pulled her pants back on.

They ate at the diner for what seemed like ages before he finished his food.

"I'm so proud of you..."

"Still?"

"What? Of course. You're trying, baby."

"Yeah...I am...I just...really, really want you back..."

"You already have me. You'll always have me. You never lost me."

He smiled slightly. His eyes were more purple in the fluorescent light of the diner. They were beautiful as they shimmered.

"You're so handsome...God, I love you."

He snorted.

"I don't know how anyone could have ever told you any different. God you're just..." She bit her lip. "Your eyes are so gorgeous...You have a handsome face...Your hair is beautiful, too...You're so, so fucking sexy."

She noticed his face getting redder as she continued.

"Oh, stop. You're my babe. I'm allowed to say nice things about you. You say things like that about me all the time."

It was dark by the time they headed back to the Firefly house, so she had to drive. She had to work in the morning, so leaving was inevitable.

She hugged him, enveloped by his warmth that she missed so much. "I have to go, baby...I'll see you later..."

He looked sad, disappointed, even, but she had to go. All of her things were still at Mia's house. "Okay...I love you..."

"I love you more than anything, Otis. I love you more than absolutely anything."


	10. Chapter 10

Otis seemed to have himself sorted out by the time she moved back in with the Firefly family. It was 2 weeks since their fight. 2 weeks, and she couldn't wait to resume life as she had known it. It had been a wonderful stay with her friend, but she missed her Otis.

When she kissed him that night as she lay in bed with him, she knew she was home. She knew it was where she was meant to be, and she could never actually leave him. Maybe it was good for her, though, those 2 weeks apart. She realized just how much she really loved him. She realized just how much she had needed him, too. She needed the comfort of him being there for her when she had a bad day at work. Whether she admitted it or not, she, too, needed his affirmations of her appearance. She needed told she was beautiful and sexy. She hadn't been through such harrowing ordeals as he had, but she had her own self esteem issues that could be summed up quite simply: children are mean. Especially to other children.

As broken as he had been, the ordeal had forced Otis to learn a few things.

She really, truly did love him more than anything. She would never have come back to him, or stayed with him, knowing full well he was a serial killer if she didn't. When she told him she was proud of him, words can't describe what he felt. All his life, all he ever wanted was for people to love him. Someone being proud of him was never something he expected to happen. He had never had that experience with a father or mother figure, standing with some trophy won for some achievement, and hearing how proud their parents were of him. He had only heard the opposite. It had made him feel so good to finally hear those words. So, so good.

He had-somewhat- realized his self-worth. His relapse had been a bad one, the worst he had had since he had actually been suffering from the eating disorder the first time. But somehow, he had come out of it understanding that he wasn't as much of a piece of shit as his mother and father thought he was. If people were willing to fight for him to get better, fight on his side against his own demons, then he had to be worth something to them. And if he was worth something to them, he had to be worth something, period, right? She was willing to fight for him. Fight with him for his health. He had seen the concern on his other family member's faces, too. He finally understood he was worth something.

While he still didn't find himself to be particularly handsome, nor did he really spend too much time thinking about those sorts of things, she had helped him with his self-image, as well. She had forced him to look at the numbers on the scale, and tell him that he was too thin for his height, and prove to him medically why he was. Since they had been together, she had been slowly boosting his confidence in this way, constantly telling him he was handsome or paying him compliments here or there. Maybe he would finally be able to graciously accept them and believe her.

They had just made love- he couldn't even call it just sex or fucking anymore. It definitely wasn't just that with her. She made him feel loved and appreciated, and he made her feel sexy and powerful and loved. It wasn't just the primal sex he used to have with prostitutes or Baby. It was completely different. It really was intimate.

She sat on his chest, pinning him to the bed. They were just laughing and playing around, now. She saw his face change, and felt his hands on her back, pulling her body closer to his face. "Mm? What're you doing?"

He gently kissed her abdomen, pressing moist kisses over the artwork there. She loved it when he did this- kissed all of her tattoos. He equated it to showing her how much he loved every inch of her. To her, it felt like he was worshiping her.

He kissed up to her ribs, letting her body slip down his. His hands roamed her back, sometimes venturing down to her ass. She sighed in pleasure, entangling her fingers in his hair.

He drug his tongue under her breast, along the artwork that had been injected there. She gasped, fisting his hair more tightly. He kissed up her sternum, gazing up at her face. God, it was sexy as hell when he did that. He left kisses on her collarbone, moving along it and out to her shoulder. She felt his hands graze her thighs, tracing the patterns of the ink there, as well. Dragging his tongue along the length of her shoulder, he kissed her neck, eventually claiming her lips, entangling one large hand in her hair, the other in the small of her back.

When he finally drew away, she felt dizzy. No one had ever loved her like that before him. She doubted anyone else could. She panted, breathless. "H...holy shit, baby..."

"Hm? Holy shit what?" He stroked her back lightly, dragging just his fingertips over her bare skin.

"God that was hot...That was so hot..."

He kissed her again, biting her bottom lip and squeezing her ass. She moaned. "Glad you liked it."

She collapsed on his chest, curling up to him. She was so happy with the way the whole situation had turned out.

"Goodnight, babygirl." He held her, still stroking her back.

"Goodnight, Otis. I love you."

He kissed her forehead, pulling the blanket over the two of them and snuggling up to her. He finally had her back. He finally had his girl back.


	11. Chapter 11

Months had passed since their argument. She still felt horrible for the things she had said to him. They were shots right to the heart and she knew it. He didn't flinch at her touches anymore; he welcomed them like he used to. That had stopped as soon as the hallucinations had stopped. She knew he was still humiliated over that situation, too.

Overall, the last couple of months hadn't been kind to her Otis.

His family had tried to ignore what they had heard him shout. They could piece together information, but they all hoped it wasn't the case.

Mother Firefly inevitably told Tiny, Rufus and Grampa Hugo. They were all speechless. Otis had left into town for something or other, he hadn't quite mentioned what, but she stood there, dumbfounded.

"You...you said...h...he was...sexually assaulted by his father...th...that means..." Rufus stammered.

"It means he was raped, you moron!" Grampa Hugo shouted. She flinched at the simplicity of the statement. "Goddamn..." Grampa Hugo rubbed his face. "Fuckin' poor kid..."

"Mama...You know Otis wouldn't want them to know..." Baby murmured.

"They had already pieced it together, sweetheart..."

"Just...don't mention to him that you know, okay? He's no different now than he was, you just know what happened."

When Otis came home, Tiny lumbered over to him and enveloped him in a hug.

"Mmf...Hey, buddy...?" He looked out around Tiny's elbow, raising an eyebrow at her. She shrugged. "What's up, Tiny? You okay?"

Tiny nodded and simply walked away.

"What was that all about?"

"Eh. Tiny really loves you. Maybe he just needed to give you a hug."

"Mm...He does that sometimes. 'Specially when he wants somethin'. Probably wants to go fishin'." He sighed. "Hey, ah...you busy tonight?"

"No."

"Do you work early tomorrow?"

"No...Why?"

"Well...Three years, y'know. That's pretty big."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess today is the day."

"Yeah, right. Don't pretend like you forgot, mama."

She giggled, swatting his chest. She leaned close to him, then, kissing him slowly. She loved to watch his face right before their lips met; how his eyes closed and he seemed to smile slightly.

They went out to dinner, then went on a hike through the woods, finally ending up at his lookout point to watch the sunset. They were leaning against his car, wrapped up in each other. She lay her head on his shoulder, perfectly content. She could hear his heart pounding, though.

"Baby? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." He all but picked her up and took her closer to the edge of the cliff.

"You thinkin' bout jumpin' or something?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What? No." He chuckled. "Oh, hey. Your shoe's untied, babe." He bent down and tied her shoe for her. That wasn't out of the ordinary, she reasoned. He was always doing little shit like that for her.

He stayed down on one knee in front of her, looking up at her. "What...?"

He took her hands. "You know...With everything that happened, I never expected to be where I am." His voice shook. He was nervous.

"Otis...what're you doing...?"

"Gettin' down to your height, short shit..." With the joke, he seemed to regain his bravado. "I just wanted to survive. I had no intentions of ever being truly happy or having a family or any of that. But here I am, years later...I have a family. I have a roof over my head where I'm not getting hit all the time...and I have you. These three years have been the best years of my life. I never, ever expected anything like this. I wish, God I wish I could go back and tell that scared little kid running from Alabama all about this. All about you. How someday, he's gonna find someone that really, really loves him and that's gonna make all that shit fall away, and how none of it matters when you're together because she loves you no matter what."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Baby..."

"I never thought I would feel this happy and this right. You...You take all that pain and that hurt and you just make it go away...I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for me and for how you've loved me."

She smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

"Mama...You showed me all I was missing. You put the pieces together." He dug in his pocket and produced a little black box.

She screamed. "Otis! Otis oh my god!" She hugged him, burying his head in her shirt.

He started laughing, trying to pull away. "Let me finish."

"Yes! Yes you silly man! Yes!" She tried to give him a kiss, but he was laughing too hard.

"I didn't even ask yet!" She pulled away from him, patiently waiting. He chuckled, simply smiling at her.

In the sunset, his eyes were red and orange and violet, and his hair shone snow white. She would remember this moment forever, snap-shotting it in her mind.

"Hey, mama? Will you marry me?" That smirk. That undeniably Otis smirk.

"Yes!" She lunged at him, taking him to the ground, kissing him again and again and again.

He laughed, so happy he didn't know what to do otherwise. "Let me up! Don't you even wanna see the ring?"

She jumped up, offering her hand to help him up. He took it, but didn't allow her to help him. She gasped when he opened it. "Baby...Where did you even find this? It's so...it's so perfect..."

"Didn't find it. I made it."

"What?!"

"Yeah. Found that little black stone and figured out how to make the setting...all I had to do was hide it from you."

"Oh my god...Otis..."

His hands shook as he placed the ring on her finger. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as slowly and sweetly and passionately as she ever had. The sun set behind them, painting colors across their skin as they kissed.

Neither of them had ever been happier in their life.

She finally broke away from him, placing a hand on his cheek. "I'm going to be Mrs. Driftwood..."

"Dr. Driftwood."


End file.
